The maxillary sinus has a poor drainage system that requires the ciliary transport system to work against gravity. Ciliary activity is slowed or stopped by alternations in temperature, bacterial toxins and other factors such as changes in the pH. The maxillary sinus becomes infected very easily and is the most difficult to clear because all the other paranasal sinuses are capable of gravity drainage. However, the maxillary sinus opening is located high in the nasal sinus above the level of the middle turbinate. Consequently, the maxillary sinus does not cleanse well easily.
Increased mucus concentration causes a congestion in the nostrils, sinus cavities and eardrums, thereby leading to painful headaches. Sinus fluids which drain by gravity tend to cause irritation to the throat because of such drainage. When excessive mucus is produced because of infection or weather conditions, there is much discomfort, thereby affecting a person's daily performance.
Attempts to solve the problem associated with congestion include medication and evacuator devices. Medication generally gives only temporary relief at significantly high cost and sometime with various side effects. Known evacuator devices are operated only in physicians' offices where treatment requires not only time but also a significantly large medical bill. That is, while the known evacuator devices are reliable and efficient, their use is inconvenient and expensive.
There are various prior art devices constituting attempts to provide a portable and efficiently operating sinus cavity aspiration device. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,001 discloses a portable demucosant which requires large amounts of water to operate a Venture tube for creating the necessary suction to drain the nasal and maxillary sinuses. Thus, this prior art device is sufficient and is necessarily dependent upon the use of large amounts of water.
Other prior art devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,481,008, 2,078,180, 2,280,992 and 3,502,078. These include disclosures of flexible bulbs to provide intermittent vacuum pulses to relieve the mucus. These are generally inefficient and unsanitary. Other types of devices disclosed in these references are generally large and bulky and not suitable for home use.